Leblond 15" lathe questions

I recently got a 15x42 Leblond Regal lathe. It was built in 1954 and bought new by the company I work for. They recently replaced it with a new one and I got this one. After 50 years, I'm only the 2nd owner.

It all seems to work and the gears in the head look like new. It has a taper attachment that seems to be frozen in place with gunk. When I clamp the taper in place and try to move the carriage, I expect the carriage to move and the taper to slide on its ways, which are cocked to the desired angle. What happens is the force tries to move the clamp that ties the taper attachment but the carriage stays in place.

I'm a bit nervous about taking the sliding part of the taper apart for cleaning having never worked on anything like this. I don't know how to adjust it when putting it back together. Am I right to worry about this and if so, is there a good explanations somewhere?

The machine also has a travadial that had some water vapor fog under the glass when I got it. I put a lamp under it for about a week and the fog is gone now. Do I need to lubricate it or anything?

Lastly I've read the recent talk about synthetic oil with great interest. The lathe manual asks for 20W engine oil, it seems like Mobil 1 would be a good substitute.

I got a couple of chucks and some collets with the lathe but no rests for supporting long parts. Are any available for this old machine?

I'm a total newbie to this and I'm looking forward to playing with it.

Reply to
Philippe Habib
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Reply to
larry g

I do belive there is a 19' leblonde manual in the dropbox. It might be similar.

Reply to
Bill Bright

Reply to
Mike G

First, I have a 1950 LeBlond Dual Drive. I really like this machine, good old gear head. L00 taper is a bit odd for a machine this size but it works great. I have a taper attachment for it but have never used it.

Second, personally, I run 30Wt NON-Detergent motor oil. It is my understanding you do not want to run any regular motor oil. You want the particles to settle outin the sump, no be suspended in the oil. Mine machine has an oil pump.

Re; The Trav-A-Dial, do not lubricate it. You can replace the lens if you need to. Southwest Industries still supports the Trav-A-Dial through their distributors, you can get literature, wipers, etc from them.

LeBlond USA still supports the machines. They are on the web. Do a search and you will turn up the URL. For tooling watch eBay. I bought a steady rest for a 16" lathe and machined its base to fit my machine. I suggest you might do the same.

For taking things apart, well, I would imagine you are at least a little mechanically inclined to get into this hobby. Take pictures, mark the parts with a sharpie marker, draw sketches whatever helps you. Some folks even video tape. Don't let the project sit around disassembled for a long time, it will get tougher to put it back together (ooops, I better get back on that Hardinge T10!)

Have fun and enjoy the hobby. There are many resources on the web available to us.

Marty

"Mike G" wrote in news:n55Ib.30686$F22.11793@lakeread02:

Reply to
Marty Escarcega

replying to Philippe Habib, Randall E. Murphree wrote: I am getting a Dual Drive 15x30 MK I made in 1940's. Believe it or not, I called Leblond and they have parts, but they probably cost as much as you paid for your lathe.

Reply to
Randall E. Murphree

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